H2020 MAIA Project: Mapping and Assessment for Integrated Ecosystem Accounting (MAIA)
- Type Project
- Status Filled
- Execution 2018 -2022
- Assigned Budget 3.002.007,5 €
- Scope Europeo
- Main source of financing H2020
- Project website Proyecto MAIA
Natural capital accounting (NCA) is used to calculate the total assets of an ecosystem and the flows of natural resources and services it provides to society. The EU-funded MAIA project will support the experimentation and implementation of NCA in nine EU Member States and Norway as the primary method for accounting for natural capital and ecosystems. The project will apply the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) methodology, which provides a uniform structure for analyzing and storing information on ecosystem stocks and flows of ecosystem services, in both physical and monetary terms. MAIA will estimate policy priorities for accounting, test and promote NCA in ten countries, pilot innovative techniques for NCA in the EU, and support various communication activities.
At the start of the project, the main focus was to assess the state of the art of national carbon accounting (NCA) in each of the 10 participating countries and determine the policy priorities that would guide the development of pilot accounts with project support. Extensive stakeholder consultations were conducted at the national and pan-European levels through workshops, surveys, and interviews. Following the stakeholder consultations, the pilot accounts were compiled with the support of MAIA.
The project provided financial and technical support to countries through online thematic webinars, online technical exchanges in workshops, and visits by the project coordinator, given limited travel options due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pilot accounts implemented in MAIA countries cover all core SEEA accounts and three thematic accounts (extent, condition, biophysical and monetary ES, ocean, urban, and biodiversity accounts). The accounts were compiled at different scales (national, regional, and local). Countries' experience with the pilot accounting initiatives was assessed in national workshops and through stakeholder surveys and interviews. Two final synthesis reports analyze lessons learned regarding SEEA EA applications to support policy decision-making and the integration of SEEA EA in EU Member States. Online national fact sheets compiled in close collaboration with national statistical offices summarize information on the implementation of the SEEA EA in each country, the key stakeholders involved in the process, access to published accounts and studies, and more.
In addition, project partners developed and tested innovative approaches to implementing the SEEA EA in five thematic areas:
- Modeling water regulation services in support of ecosystem accounting.
- Exploring big data sources to quantify cultural ES.
- Valuation of ES and ecosystem assets.
- Biodiversity accounting.
- Marine Accounts Piloting. These innovative research projects aimed to fill key knowledge gaps in the CCN more broadly and in the SEEA EA in particular, thereby supporting the compilation of accounts in EU Member States.
The project has generated 37 publications in peer-reviewed journals. Other outputs include technical exchanges between partners, shared technical resources, and pilot accounts. MAIA also contributed to a wide range of dissemination and communication activities on ecosystem accounting (EAC), such as the presentation of project results at conferences, consultations with national and EU-level stakeholders, dissemination of information on the website and social media, and a series of nine webinars on the SEEA core and thematic accounts. MAIA developed technical documents to provide guidance on SEEA: a technical brief on the valuation of ES and assets for ecosystem accounting, developed jointly with the UN SEEA NCAVES project, and guidelines on biophysical modeling of ES for ecosystem accounting.
In addition, MAIA developed a web-based analytical tool to visualize, analyze, and present ecosystem accounting data. This web-based tool covers accounting data from five countries (Bulgaria, Spain, France, Norway, and the Netherlands).
MAIA aimed to integrate natural capital accounting (NCA) in Europe, including Norway and nine EU Member States (MS). MAIA uses the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) as the methodological basis for NCA. The SEEA EA is a system for NCA developed under the auspices of the United Nations Statistical Commission. It provides a consistent framework for analyzing and storing information on ecosystem assets and ecosystem service (ES) flows. The SEEA is part of the System of National Accounts, used by statistical agencies worldwide for the production of economic and other statistics.
In MAIA, a flexible approach was followed, allowing the SEEA EA framework to be adapted to the conditions of each EU Member State. The specific objectives of MAIA were:
- Evaluate the political priorities for the CCN.
- Test, pilot, and integrate the CCN in EU Member States by compiling pilot accounts.
- Testing innovative approaches to CCN in the EU context.
- Supporting the NCA in EU Member States through various communication and outreach activities, such as the development of guidelines, a website, and other enabling actions.
MAIA (Mapping and Assessment for Integrated Ecosystem Accounting) aims to integrate natural capital and ecosystem accounting (NCA) in EU Member States. MAIA uses the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EEA) as the methodological basis for NCA. The SEEA-EEA provides a consistent framework for analyzing and storing information on ecosystem assets and ecosystem service flows, in both physical and monetary units.
The EEA-SEEA follows a spatial approach, which requires extensive (spatial) data and models as inputs to the accounts. In MAIA, a flexible approach will be followed, allowing the EEA-SEEA framework to be adapted to the conditions of each EU country. In particular, MAIA:
- It will assess policy priorities for accounting.
- Test, pilot, and implement NCA in 10 countries.
- Testing innovative approaches to NCA in the European context.
- Supporting NCAs in the EU through various communication and outreach activities, including the development of guidelines, a web-based information system, and other facilitation actions.
MAIA will involve work in Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, and Spain, but will extend to all EU Member States through the exchange of data, guidelines, and experiences. The MAIA consortium includes a balanced mix of partners with expertise in statistics, ecological modeling, and environmental economics, including three statistical agencies. In addition, MAIA has 18 supporting partners, including statistical agencies and other government agencies in 10 countries.
The more experienced institutes will advise and assist those with less experience. MAIA partners participate in a variety of other initiatives, such as the SEEA London Group, MAES, ESMERALDA, and IPBES, and include partners supporting KIP INCA, which will facilitate the exchange of experiences. MAIA coordinates overall with Wageningen University.
The project has enabled participating countries to establish and strengthen links among stakeholders, thereby increasing cooperation in the implementation of the SEEA in each country. Participation in the international MAIA network and the practical demonstration of the NAC through the compilation of pilot accounts were also key elements in advancing the operationalization and integration of the SEEA in the MAIA countries. Participation in the project led to increased political support for the NAC, improved financial and personnel resources dedicated to the SEEA, the development of technical skills and knowledge, and improved access to data.
Countries that began compiling SEEA accounts relatively recently reported that it was too early to predict the policy implications that might arise from their pilot ecosystem accounting work. However, more advanced countries were able to identify specific policy impacts, especially when the accounts are reduced to the regional or municipal scale with the granularity necessary to inform decision-making.
The testing of innovative approaches to SEEA has led to new developments in its applications, methods, and concepts. Innovative applications have been developed in the areas of flood regulation (Bulgaria and the Czech Republic), water supply, and drought risk reduction (Flanders). A novel approach to modeling cultural ES using online big data was developed to support the environmental assessment of SEEA. A new ES model using big data and artificial intelligence to capture landscape aesthetics was subsequently developed and tested in the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Regarding valuation, MAIA promoted advances in the use of simulated exchange values for accounting for non-market ES, the use of maintenance and restoration costs for ecosystem asset accounts, and the extension of ES valuation with Bayesian network models. MAIA provided new insights on how to achieve better biodiversity accounting (e.g., in Greece), how the SEEA environmental assessment can better integrate biodiversity into economic and national planning processes, and the application of the SEEA environmental assessment to protected areas.
The project also advanced marine ecosystem accounting by developing extent and condition accounts using existing datasets in Finland and France, and by making conceptual advances on the links between marine biophysical accounts and the valuation of marine ecosystem assets.
The project generated a large amount of resources that support the adoption of the SEEA EA in Norway and the EU:
- National fact sheets providing an overview of the status of ecosystem accounting in each MAIA country.
- A series of nine webinars on the SEEA EA's core and thematic accounts.
- Guidance documents on biophysical modeling and monetary valuation for ecosystem accounting.
- A web-based tool for querying and analyzing ecosystem accounts, including an e-learning tool, and (v) scientific publications (37). These resources have been distributed to EU stakeholders involved in the implementation and use of the SEEA EA through webinars, stakeholder meetings, and dissemination on the MAIA website and social media. Through these dissemination activities, the project has also actively engaged with non-participating countries, reaching stakeholders in 26 EU Member States.
- WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY (WU)
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